oboeinsight

So we are done.

With opera, that is!

Now it’s on to symphony and the choral concert for this week. I have ten services from today through next Sunday, along with some students. Sadly I have to cancel a few students, due to the afternoon conflicts. I hate doing that, but ah, the life of a performing musician … so it goes!

Playing the Poulenc (La voix humaine) really wasn’t difficult (aside from making sure I counted measures of rest properly!). Toward the end there are a few pretty little ditties that I enjoyed playing. The first one (on the left side) is “handed” to me from the English horn. The second is one I hand over to her. Fun times! (Normally I don’t really enjoy seeing the other part in my book, but for the Poulenc it was awfully handy to see the English horn along with my part … made counting easier!)

By the way, if you click on the picture you’ll see a larger rendition. It’s still not entirely easy to read, but oh well ….

Now the Leoncavallo … well … would you believe I spent over two hours on two measure, and continued to play it nearly daily, to keep it in my fingers? It’s not that the lick is all THAT difficult, but playing it “in time” was the challenge. After I had it in my fingers, I played a recording over and over and came in on time to make sure that I could be there every time. Fortunately the lick is about 30 seconds in to the entire work. Whether I got it or not, at least it was over early so I could enjoy the rest. (I did manage to get it every time, but not in the way I liked. In truth there were two times that completely satisfied me. I’m picky that way.)

There were several other very fun things to play, but nothing that freaked me like those two measures above. Silly, eh? (By the way, I’m NOT the one who had to write “pic” above Ottavino … I do know that’s a piccolo!)

As you can see below, I also had two pages that had a bit of “cut ‘n paste” going on. This is because Opera San Jos´doesn’t hire the off stage or banda musicians. Instead we pit folk add those parts to ours. I really think it’s too bad, as it really does give a different feel to have an instrument from off stage or on stage when written that way. Oh well! When I was ill I just couldn’t see taking off and having someone come in and make sense of the cut and paste. It’s one thing to have rehearsed it — it’s really quite easy to follow. But a person who had never played it … well … that concerned me. So sick or not, I was there. I’m glad, too, because I hate canceling out of anything. Not my style!

Here’s the first tiny cut and paste (see the bottom of the page):

Here’s the very large cut and paste (only the top 5 lines):

After this page we move to two oboes who are to supposed to be bagpipes … not a bad idea: if our unison is out of tune, well, it’s bagpipes so no biggie … right? (Or not.) The top of page 21 is a killer for me, by the way. I’m not sure if anyone else struggles with that.

After we are done with that I have a little solo that is to be played by the pit oboist and then I once again play the offstage part from the pit.

… for this:

and this:

… and is that not the WORST cut at the end ever? Odd!

This is our final opera of the fall season. Up until now my favorite would be Xerxes, and I suspect that will remain my favorite, as Carmen isn’t at the top of my list of favorite operas to begin with. (Maybe I’ve just played it too much?)

I believe the Carmen of tonight is the 27 year old Anita Rachvelishvili. Below she is singing at la Scala with Jonas Kaufmann as Don José:

… as you may not have heard it before …?

Many thanks to Pam for this first one!

… and then Krusty tries to sing it …

… a sympathetic shark …

But hey, a soda will cure all woes …

Yep, gonna go hear and see Don G.

News Release
Opera San José Celebrates National Opera Week

SAN JOSE, CA— Opera San José joins dozens of other opera organizations nationwide to celebrate National Opera Week (October 28 – November 6), coordinated by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, with support of the National Endowment for the Arts. As part of the week-long celebration, Opera San José will present two free public performances at the
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library in downtown San José and partner with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to encourage patrons to ride the VTA to the opera.On Tuesday, November 1 at 12 noon, the company will present a preview of two one-act operas,
Leoncavallo’s emotional tour de force, Pagliacci, and Poulenc’s monodrama, La voix humaine. The program will include a selection of arias and duets performed by members of the cast, followed by a panel discussion with members of the creative team, moderated by Opera San José’s general manager Larry Hancock.

On Friday, November 4 at 4 pm, children of all ages are invited to a performance of a one-act touring opera based on Engelbert Humperdinck’s classic, Hansel and Gretel. Performed in English by Opera San José’s singers, Hansel and Gretel provides children with a positive experience of an art form that may be new to them, offering a fantastic introduction to opera and theatrical storytelling through music and voice.

Both events will be held on the 2nd floor of the library in room 225/229, located at 150 East San Fernando Street at 4th Street in downtown San José. No reservations are required.

Opera San José will extend the celebration through the month of November by partnering with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to encourage patrons to take public transit to the California Theatre for performances of the company’s double-bill of Pagliacci and La voix humaine, November 12-27. VTA monthly pass holders can save 20% on tickets to any performance of Pagliacci and La voix humaine by presenting a valid monthly fare pass at time of purchase.

For more information on Opera San José visit www.operasj.org. For more information on National Opera Week visit www.operaamerica.org/operaweek. For VTA fares and schedules visit www.vta.org.

About Opera San José
Opera San José, performing at the historic California Theatre in downtown San José, is a professional, regional opera company that is unique in the United States. Maintaining a resident company of principal artists, Opera San José specializes in showcasing the finest young professional singers in the nation. In addition to mainstage performances, Opera San José maintains extensive
educational programs in schools and in the community at large, and offers Preview lectures and Introduction to Opera talks for all mainstage productions.